Finding Happiness in God's Blessings

allergic reaction

My sweet little boy! You’re 8 months old, and every bit a momma’s boy (and I’m totally okay with that and all the snuggles).

You’re 21 lbs and 14 oz and still in 12-18 month clothes.

You had a rough couple weeks again. You cut all 4 top teeth within a week. You were miserable! Then when we started getting back to normal, you got an ear infection… and then you broke out in an allergic reaction to the amoxicillin. You’re officially allergic to penicillin products like your momma. My poor baby, I just wanted to make you feel better, and there was just one thing after the other.

You scoot around ALL over the place! You are so so close to crawling, and any down now you’ll be going wherever you want. You still love standing, and I can see how bad you want to be mobile. We joke that you’re big into yoga… see downward dog below.

You stopped eating solid foods for a while. You were just so upset anytime I put you down. Well, once those top 4 teeth cut through you are just happy as a clam when you eat.

We started transitioning you to two naps a day. It helped you with your naps almost immediately. You still aren’t the best napper, but now you usually nap for at least an hour each time. Sometimes we get lucky and get a good 2 hour nap… but when it happens it is unpredictable. Sometimes it’s during your morning nap, and sometimes at the afternoon nap.

I recently posted about getting back on a workout regimen and eating healthy, so in lieu of this plan I recently started the Couch to 5K program with a friend of mine. We’ve been running three times a week for two weeks, and I always add in some extra runs with Paul and our dogs. Secretly I’ve always wanted to be a runner, but it’s just never been in the cards for me.

So this past weekend, Paul and I went for a run while we were visiting my family in Orlando. We made it about 2 miles when I started struggling. I felt like my food from dinner was being pushed back up my throat and it wouldn’t go down. I was having trouble breathing, and I felt like I needed to throw up. At this point we decided to turn around and head back towards my parents house.

On our way back, my body started having symptoms similar to an allergic reaction. My hands got tingly and started swelling – they got so big it hurt to bend my fingers. Then my ear lobes started tingling along with my forehead and my lips. My neck and armpits started itching like crazy. The whole time Paul just kept saying, “I think you’re having an allergic reaction… Let’s just get you home.” The closer we got to the house, the more frequently he asked me if he could just throw me on his back and run home.

When we finally made it home I started telling my mom what happened, and she looked at me and said “oh, you do look a little puffy”. My family proceeded to feed me Benedryl and tell me to take a shower. When I went to take a shower I walked into the bathroom and looked at myself for the first time since getting home. I immediately said “Oh my goodness I look like Hitch!”. Now for anyone who has not seen this movie, Hitch has a severe allergic reaction and his face swells. I am not exaggerating when I say my entire face was swollen and I looked like Hitch!!! To add to my sweet swollen face, I had also broken out in hives all over my body. By the time I got out of the shower we started going through my day trying to figure out what could possibly cause an allergic reaction. At this point, I remembered that this has happened to me previously while working out about 5 years ago.

So on Sunday morning my mom started Googling, and trying to figure out what the heck caused the strange reaction. So here is our internet educated diagnosis of myself… get ready for it folks…

I am ALLERGIC to EXERCISE!!!

I swear! During her research she discovered EIA – Exercise-Induced Anaphylaxis, and it described what happpened to me to the “T”! Google it if you don’t believe me! Basically, something triggers this reaction during a workout. It can be triggered by eating certain foods before working out, extreme environmental conditions, etc. I have no idea what triggered it on Saturday, or 5 years ago, but it is a funny diagnosis regardless. What better excuse can you have for not going to workout than, “I’m allergic!”… (I should get a pan of brownies since I didn’t use it and I got out of bed at 5:3o this morning and went running).

So there you have it – you can literally be allergic to exercise… and then after your face swells up your husband can also call you Chewbacca for the rest of the weekend. It will be fun I promise!

I’ve posted previously about our chocolate lab, Laila, here. Well, we didn’t make it very long before she was post worthy again. We made it a little over a month with a healthy girl. When Paul and I went to bed Sunday night she was happy and healthy. When I woke up on Monday morning to this face, I’m sure you can imagine my surprise.

Check out the snout on that girl!! She looks like she might as well be a cartoon dog like Goofy or something! (sorry for how dark it was – but it was 6:30 in the morning). I immediately freak out, I do not do well when there may be something wrong with people/animals I love… God help me when Paul and I have actual children. I woke Paul up and I started taking pictures and giving Laila Benadryl… AGAIN! My friend’s brother is a vet, so I wanted to document everything so she could get some insight from him. Lo and behold – the vet says she is having an allergic reaction and it probably isn’t necessary to take her in unless it kept getting worse or she started puking, etc. This made me feel better, but as Laila’s swelling went down, her hives came out.

This poor girl just can’t catch a break!

Luckily, the swelling in her snout has gone done. Now we just have to wait out the hives! We are pretty sure she got bit by something this time, and unless something seriously changes in her condition she won’t be making a vet visit this time. Paul keeps joking that we are going to have to drop her off with his parents in Virginia next week until the Florida summer has passed and the bugs/plants are gone so she can safely return home… This is not happening. She’s my protector when he’s gone!

So almost 1 month to the day – Laila has made her second blog appearance… and not for the best reasons! Paul and I are hoping she will be back to normal by Thursday before we leave for Tampa on Friday!